Cricket / Crowd abuses Mohammed Siraj, police kick out spectators as play briefly stopped

Cricket Desk: The third Test between Australia and India started with Steve Smith’s century being in focus. However, as time passed by, unnecessary controversies seemed to have taken over the limelight. During the third day’s play at the Sydney Cricket Ground, fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah had to face severe racial abuses from some drunk Australian supporters.

The incident didn’t go down well with the Indian team, who termed it as ‘insulting’. Ajinkya Rahane, the stand-in Indian captain, also had a chat with the match officials regarding the matter. On the fourth day’s play, the situation took a turn for the worse. During the post-lunch session, Siraj went up to the umpires and again complained of racial slurs being thrown at him.

Mohammed Siraj faces heat yet another time in Sydney

Thereafter, the umpires, other match officials and the security officials investigated the matter. In the end, six people were asked to leave the venue on an immediate basis. The fans seemed to be the same, who the police had a chat with after the third day’s play. The incident was thoroughly reported by Cricbuzz’s journalist Bharat Sundaresan.

Earlier, former Indian cricketer, Pragyan Ojha said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should try and send a strong message to Cricket Australia (CA) regarding the racial abuses. He urged both the boards to lay some guidelines on conducts during a match.

“Now, Ajinkya Rahane, the coach and the management and the BCCI have to take it up seriously. This shouldn’t affect the game. Cricket has to be played the way it has to be played. But after the game is done, we should take it till this has been addressed in the strictest way.

“They should make sure that a very strong message should go to Cricket Australia and ICC should back it,” Ojha was quoted as saying by India Today. For the time being, it remains to be seen whether or not CA takes any action on the matter.

Back in 2019, Jofra Archer of England had to face racial discrimination from a fan in New Zealand. The fan was then handed a two-year ban a couple of months later. Over the years, the Border Gavaskar series has also witnessed a number of controversies, including the Monkeygate scandal in 2008.